PRODUCTS: The Public's Crush On Private Labels

For years many shoppers turned up their
noses at "private label" goods, those moderately priced and stingily
promoted items that carry the store's own brand name instead of the
manufacturer's. Cautious consumers, unsure of their judgment, usually
sought out the costlier, more lavishly advertised "national or brand
name" products. Now these buying patterns are shifting. The popularity
of private-label goodsfood, clothes, whisky, appliances, household
furnishingsis rising. The change is creating a big, rich and
occasionally wacky sales trend in U.S. marketing.

The National Retail Merchants Association estimates that private
labels account...